"In my career, what I've always tried my best to do … is to say something about how men and women really behave, how we experience shame, how we love and how we rage, how we fail, how we retreat, persevere and how we overcome," Winfrey said.

"So I want all the girls watching here and now to know that a new day is on the horizon. And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time where nobody ever has to say MeToo again."

Meantime, Nicole Kidman was the first and only Aussie to claim a statue for Best Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for her role as an abused housewife in Big Little Lies.

"This character that I played represents something that is the centre of our conversation right now: abuse," Kidman said, in accepting her award.

"I do believe and I hope we can elicit change through the stories we tell and the way we tell them. Let's keep the conversation alive.

Kidman also spoke about female empowerment in her acceptance speech, paying trubute to her mother's activisim.

Nicole Kidman accepts the award for best performance by an actress in a limited series or motion picture made for TV for her role in "Big Little Lies," at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards in beverly Hills, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018. (Paul Drinkwater/NBC via AP)Paul Drinkwater

"My mumma was an advocate for the women's movement when I was growing up and because of her, I'm standing here," Kidman said.

"My achievements are her achievements. Antonia Kidman, my sister and I, say thank you Janelle Kidman for fighting so hard."

There were a few other Aussies who also picked up awards as part of their ensemble casts. Former Home and Away star Samara Weaving celebrated with her Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri cast mates as the film picked up the top gong of the night - Best Motion Picture Drama.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's annual ceremony - hosted by late-night comedian Seth Meyers - was the first big opportunity for Hollywood to unite against a pervasive culture of sexual misconduct after the downfall of disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Allison Janney - I, Tonya (won): Janney paid trubute to skater Tonya Harding (the subject of the biopic) and her co-star, Australian actor Margot Robbie: "Margot, I thank you for your unbelievable, brave, fearless portrayal of Tonya, you set the bar for everyone. I love you. … Tonya Harding is here tonight - I'd like to thank Tonya for sharing her story … what this movie did is tell a story about class in America, tell a story about the disenfranchised, tell a story about a woman who was not embraced for her individuality, tell a story about the perception of truth and the media and the truths we all tell ourselves. Margot … she's a quadruple threat, I don't even know!"

Laurie Metcalf - Lady Bird

Octavia Spencer - The Shape of Water

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Willem Dafoe - The Florida Project

Armie Hammer - Call Me by Your Name

Richard Jenkins - The Shape of Water

Christopher Plummer - All the Money in the World

Sam Rockwell - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (won): Speaking onstage, Rockwell said: "This movie's about compassion and I think we need some of that these days".

Best Original Score in a Motion Picture

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

The Shape of Water (won)

Phantom Thread

The Post

Dunkirk

Best Original Song in a Motion Picture

Home - Ferdinand

Mighty River - Mudbound

Remember Me - Coco

The Star - The Star

This Is Me - The Greatest Showman (won)

Best Screenplay in a Motion Picture

The Shape of Water

Lady Bird

The Post

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (won)

Molly's Game

Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language

A Fantastic Woman

First They Killed My Father

In the Fade (won)

Loveless

The Square

Best Animated Film

The Boss Baby

The Breadwinner

Ferdinand

Coco (won): Benjamin Bratt, who provides the voice of Mexico's most famous musician in Coco, describes his flick as "pure Pixar - it provides adventure, a good dose of humour and an emotional wallop".

Loving Vincent

Best TV Series - Drama

The Crown

Game of Thrones

The Handmaid's Tale (won)

Stranger Things

This Is Us

Best performance by Actress in a TV series - Drama

Caitriona Balfe - Outlander

Claire Foy - The Crown

Maggie Gyllenhaal - The Deuce

Katherine Langford - 13 Reasons Why

Elisabeth Moss - The Handmaid's Tale (won): Moss quoted novelist Margaret Atwood, who wrote The Handmaid's Tale, in her acceptance speech. "'We were the people who were not in the papers, we lived in the blank white spaces at the edge of print, it gave us more freedom," Moss said during her speech. "We lived in the gaps between the stories'. Margaret Atwood this is for you and all of the women who came before you and after you, who were brave enough to speak out against intolerance and injustice and to fight for equality and freedom in this world. We no longer live in the blank white spaces at the edge of print, we no longer live in the gaps between the stories, we are the story in print and we are writing the story ourselves."

Best performance by an Actor in a TV Series - Drama

Sterling K. Brown - This is Us (won)

Freddie Highmore - The Good Doctor

Bob Odenkirk - Better Call Saul

Liev Schreiber - Ray Donovan

Jason Bateman - Ozark

Best TV series - Musical or Comedy

Black-ish

Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (won)

Master of None

SMILF

Will & Grace

Best performance by an Actor in a TV series - Musical or Comedy

Anthony Anderson - Black-ish

Aziz Ansari - Master of None (won)

Kevin Bacon - I Love Dick

William H. Macy - Shameless

Eric McCormack - Will and Grace

Best performance by an Actress in a TV series - Musical or Comedy

Pamela Adlon - Better Things

Alison Brie - Glow

Issa Rae - Insecure

Rachel Brosnahan - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (won)

Frankie Shaw - SMILF

Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Big Little Lies (won)

Fargo

Feud: Bette and Joan

The Sinner

Top of the Lake: China Girl

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Robert De Niro - The Wizard of Lies

Jude Law - The Young Pope

Kyle MacLachlan - Twin Peaks

Ewan McGregor - Fargo (won)

Geoffrey Rush - Genius

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Jessica Biel - The Sinner

Nicole Kidman - Big Little Lies (won)

Jessica Lange - Feud: Bette and Joan

Susan Sarandon - Feud: Bette and Joan

Reese Witherspoon - Big Little Lies

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Alfred Molina - Feud: Bette and Joan

Alexander Skarsgard - Big Little Lies (won): Skarsgard paid tribute to his co-stars, saying, "I am here tonight because I had the privilege of working with a group of extraordinarily talented women. Especially Nicole - not that you're like more talented than everybody else, I say 'especially Nicole' because most of my scenes were with Nicole. Nicole I love you, thank you for making this the greatest experience of my career."

David Thewlis - Fargo

David Harbour - Stranger Things

Christian Slater - Mr. Robot

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Laura Dern - Big Little Lies (won): Dern said her Big Little Lies character was an "outrageous, complicated woman and a terrified mother … terrified because her little girl was being abused and bullied and she was too afraid to speak up". She added: "Many of us were taught not to tattle, it was a culture of silencing and that was normalised. I urge all of us to not only support survivors and bystanders who are brave enough to tell their truth, but to promote restorative justice. May we also protect and employ them. May we teach our children that speaking out without the fear of retribution is our culture's new north star."